The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 156

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 156. Heroes of the Allied Forces (3)
Isolde’s eyes gleamed like topaz set into her face.
Those quiet, golden irises were difficult to read for emotion.
“That would be rather difficult.”
I answered briefly.
After all, I could neither wield holy power nor sorcery.
I could not manipulate any energy based on mana.
Now I had reached the point of ‘devouring’ mana itself.
Even if holy power was called the ultimate aura, it was ultimately energy derived from Mana, so it did not align with me.
Whether aura or magical power.
Whether holy, sorcery, or ether.
Ultimately, since all were energies derived from Mana, I could not achieve any synergy with the heroes of the Allied Forces.
“I see.”
Isolde nodded calmly.
Yet the emotion detected by Weak Point Detection was… regret?
“Can we not fight like we did back then?”
“Back then, you say?”
“Violess.”
Emotion colored Isolde’s voice, rare for her.
“I only relied on Adrian back then.”
Could she have been holding onto her loss to Iratum?
But that was simply because Iratum was strong.
Isolde was not weak.
Above all, because Isolde drew Iratum’s attention, I could blast him away with Dragon’s Wrath.
If that hadn’t happened?
I would have died to Iratum.
Now that I had devoured the Ogre, things would be different, but back then, I was destined to lose.
In truth, Isolde had done everything.
But Isolde did not seem to see it that way.
“I worked hard to become strong enough to fight without relying on Adrian.”
That was also why she had mimicked my Radiant Dragon’s Fury.
“But it seems difficult.”
…This one really hasn’t changed at all.
“If you don’t mind.”
I extended my left palm forward.
Then, aiming at the distant mountain range where no one stood—
◆Derived Skill, Dragon Burst [E] activated!
Boom—!
A straight line of explosion erupted from my palm, instantly cleaving through the air.
The fired blast collided with the distant mountain range—
…Boom!
A belated explosion echoed through the air.
“That was…?”
“A technique derived from the Radiant Dragon’s Wrath. By halving its power, I’ve pursued precision and practicality instead.”
Isolde’s eyes widened in a rare display of surprise.
“Would you like to learn it?”
“Is that… allowed?”
“With your abilities, Isolde, you should be able to master it.”
Dragon Burst [E] is a derivative skill of the Radiant Dragon’s Wrath [L].
If one can use the Radiant Dragon’s Wrath [L], then Dragon Burst [E] becomes accessible as well.
Besides, Isolde possessed the same regenerative capabilities I did.
“You’re really going to teach me?”
“It’s my repayment for healing Seraphia.”
Isolde’s expression remained unchanged.
Yet the emotions I detected through Weakness Perception [U] were—.
Anticipation and excitement.
‘So she can feel such emotions after all.’
…Truly, a woman impossible to fully comprehend.
* * *
Kiiiiing—!
Holy power converging at Isolde’s fingertips.
Paaaaang—!!
Yet the compressed force burst outward instead of extending in a straight line.
The shockwave of the explosion bent Isolde’s wrist completely backward.
“This is difficult.”
Yet Isolde remained composed.
It was I who couldn’t maintain composure.
‘She’s already grasping it.’
So this is what they call genius.
Isolde’s Perfect Muscle Control [A].
Her ability and talent to manipulate muscles at the fiber level with microscopic precision.
“Is it an output issue?”
A genius with flawless self-assessment.
Yet not without imperfection.
“More precisely, the compression state remains inconsistent after energy output.”
“I see.”
“Would you attempt to condense holy power like the Divine Wave Burst of the Holy Fist Arts?”
Holy Fist Arts. Lumentius style.
Divine Wave Burst.
A technique that compressed holy power and released it in wave form.
In other words, it seemed like I only needed to change the form in the compression of Holy Light Explosion—.
In that instant, Isolde’s gaze shifted in a peculiar way.
Her emotion, as detected by Weak Point Detection[U], was suspicion…?
“How do you know so much about Holy Sacred Martial Arts?”
Damn.
“Now that I think about it, you also knew about my transcendence of holy power back in Violess.”
…Hell.
A mistake. I’ve dug my own grave.
“How do you know?”
Isolde pressed the question forward.
Blood trickled slowly from her burst wrists and broken ankles.
…It was quite grotesque.
But Isolde paid it no mind.
“Will you answer me?”
Holy Sacred Martial Arts is a combat technique devised by successive Saints of the Holy Kingdom to stand against darkness.
In other words, unless one is a Saint, one should neither know nor be able to know the mechanism of Holy Sacred Martial Arts.
Naturally, I couldn’t say anything.
I learned it through practical sparring with Isolde in my past life.
An excuse like I saw it in a book, the way it was with Broombar?
That would be worse than saying nothing.
The Arcanoheart, a mana fusion reactor, was an excuse that worked because it appeared in magical theory texts.
But Holy Sacred Martial Arts is different.
With nothing to say, right at that moment—.
◆Hidden Quest, [I Will Take Her From You]—Execute immediately!!!
Text suddenly materializing before my eyes.
The text seemed to be offering some kind of solution….
==[I Will Take Her From You]==
[Content] – Silence Isolde by kissing her!
[Reward] – Aaahn~♥
[Failure] – No penalty
…Is this system seriously insane?
The Quest had been forcibly accepted, so I couldn’t even cancel it.
I quickly dispersed the text before my eyes.
At the same moment, Isolde stepped closer and spoke.
“If you won’t tell me, then please grant me a request.”
◆Hurry up, right now, immediately, kiss her—!
“What request?”
“Please allow me to attach Adrian’s name to this technique as well, along with the previous one.”
“…?”
My head tilted in confusion of its own accord.
The Holy Martial Arts assigns the name of each technique’s creator to the move itself.
However, the Holy Martial Arts themselves are a discipline used only by Saints.
Therefore, only Saints could have their names inscribed in the Holy Martial Arts.
“I would like to bestow upon Adrian the title of ‘Honorary Saint.'”
Honorary Saint.
It refers to a person who receives honor and respect equivalent to that of a Saint.
They are not publicly recognized as a canonized Saint.
However, they receive treatment befitting that status.
Protocol ranking higher than a Cardinal.
Permission for private audiences with the Pope and Isolde.
Immunity privileges, and so forth.
They are granted extralegal authority, yet bear no corresponding responsibility.
An honorary position with rights but no obligations.
For this reason, Honorary Saint cannot be granted to just anyone.
In the Holy Kingdom, there are only two who can grant it.
The Pope.
And the Saint.
“Has Isolde not yet been formally canonized as a Saint?”
Canonization as a Saint typically occurs through martyrdom.
In other words, it is a title granted only after death.
It is simply that the people of the Continent have voluntarily revered Isolde and call her the Saint.
Isolde had not been officially canonized as a Saint.
Therefore, Isolde’s official position in the Holy Kingdom is ‘Cardinal.’
Her form of address is ‘Your Eminence.’
When canonized as a Saint, it changes to ‘Your Holiness.’
However, it was not necessarily granted only after death.
The title of Saint was sometimes bestowed when one demonstrated heroic virtue and became an example to all, or when recognized as a holy person through universal ecclesiastical authority.
In that sense, the Commander of the Holy Command, Isolde, was a Saint.
Her very name was [the Saint of Condemnation].
But at this point, having returned to the past, she had not yet been canonized as a Saint.
“A canonization ceremony is scheduled.”
“…?”
“In recognition of Violess’s contributions.”
“I see.”
The collapse of the Lawless City, Violess.
At my request, all of it had been attributed to Isolde’s actions.
In essence, Isolde alone had purified a present-day hell, and it seemed she was being canonized as a Saint in recognition of that achievement.
“In truth, it was all Adrian’s accomplishment.”
Isolde’s gaze drifted slightly downward.
She seemed to doubt whether she herself deserved to be canonized as a Saint.
“Isolde deserves it.”
I meant every word.
Isolde had every qualification to be canonized as a Saint.
“Thank you for saying so.
Isolde lifted her gaze once more.
Her eyes rippled with quiet composure, yet even with Weak Point Detection, I couldn’t discern her emotions.
“Would it be acceptable to grant me the title of Honorary Saint?”
…Somehow, it felt as though the positions of petitioner and grantor had reversed—.
“Understood.”
It was hardly a burden.
It imposed no real restrictions on my activities.
An Honorary Saint was also known as an “unrecorded Saint,” after all.
The moment I nodded in agreement, it happened.
◆A Saint?!?!
Brilliant text flashed before my eyes in an instant.
And somehow, the tone of this outburst carried a different quality—.
◆You can’t even manage a kiss, and you call yourself a Saint?!
◆The Continent is truly doomed!
◆A Saint is an adult! A Saintess is an adult too!
◆Neither of them are children!
◆So if you’re adults, act like adults and kiss already!
◆How can a Saint who loves all mankind not understand their own love?!
◆What? That Saint isn’t that Saint?
◆Then what do you expect me to do?!!
…This bastard was definitely insane.
Watching the sarcastic remarks evolve into their final form made it abundantly clear they’d lost all reason.
◆I’m starting to think the title “Saint of the Dark Moon” suits you better!
==【Saint of the Dark Moon】==
[Acquisition Condition] – Honorary Saint
[Passive Effect] – The efficiency of all recovery-related skills increases by [+30%].
…But regardless, the title’s effect was extraordinary.
Simply put, the caloric consumption required for Regeneration [B+] decreased by [-30%].
Moreover, it was a “passive effect.”
I gained the [+30%] benefit without even equipping the title.
True to the name Honorary Saint—rights without obligations.
But there was one thing.
‘I have absolutely no idea how this title’s mechanism works.’
Merely by possessing it, all recovery-related skills gained a [+30%] efficiency boost.
I honestly couldn’t fathom how this was possible.
What was certain was that it wasn’t based on mana.
In my current state of devouring mana, it became even more certain.
Through this, it was clear that Ian could handle other unknown forces beyond mana.
It seemed this was why all of Ian’s abilities were off-the-charts [EX] grade….
‘…Ian, this bastard is really something.’
In the end, Ian was the one who held the answers.
Questions that could only be resolved by asking Ian directly.
Anyway, once the Runesteel Ore Vein was mined, the plan was for it to go to The Empire.
‘Just let me meet him.’
I’ll have a proper word with him then.
…In any case.
“Thank you for indulging such an unreasonable request.”
I’m the one who should be grateful.
Looking at it now, Isolde must have deliberately pressured me grotesquely because she thought I wouldn’t accept the title of Honorary Saint.
After all, there was precedent for my name being omitted in Violess.
An apology for that? Repayment?
Well, either way.
“I’ll teach you one more technique.”
Dragon Burst [E] and Dragon Impact [E].
I explained in detail to Isolde the two skills derived and branched from my Wrath of the Radiant Dragon [L].
* * *
Isolde quickly mastered both skills.
It took roughly half a day.
There was nothing more I could teach her.
From that point on, it was a matter of proficiency.
…I wondered if this was right, but in any case.
Let’s return to the Runesteel Mine.
“As a result, it’s possible.”
“Really, truly?”
Iliana and Broombar’s conversation had conveniently concluded.
“Yes. However, it’s difficult to create the device right now. Mining the Runesteel Ore Vein is the priority, so I need to control the Arcanoheart….”
Broombar shook his head back and forth.
And soon he spotted me—.
“Can we do the blood research later?”
“Take your time with it.”
I nodded immediately.
The regeneration potion wasn’t an urgent matter either, and as he said, what was urgent now was the Runesteel Ore Vein.
“But is your schedule alright, Iliana?”
Iliana currently belonged to Langritd Magic Tower.
From what I knew, mages affiliated with a Magic Tower didn’t have much freedom in their actions.
Of course, I’d heard she had become a full-fledged mage….
“Yes, it’s fine! I received permission for a couple of months!”
“A couple of months, then….”
I looked back at Broombar—.
“That’s sufficient.”
Broombar nodded, indicating there was no problem whatsoever.
Then he hurriedly organized the site and issued orders to the Dwarves.
As Broombar stepped away—.
Iliana and I.
We were alone.
There was still time anyway.
Besides, I had something I wanted to ask Iliana about.
“The Extreme?”
I asked Iliana about the Extreme[M].
* * *
Count Whitewolf’s study.
‘…I wanted to go with him too.’
Seraphia sighed softly and set down her quill pen.
Of course, Adrian hadn’t gone out for leisure.
But for some reason, she felt disappointed and dejected.
It was like the feeling of being unable to play together because of piled-up homework.
The documents stacked endlessly before her.
…When would she ever finish all of this?
Nothing but sighs escaped her lips—.
‘But I still have to work hard!’
Seraphia rekindled her resolve and picked up the quill pen again.
Just then.
The scenery outside the window suddenly grew chaotic.
The hallway outside her study also abruptly became bustling….
-Did you pack the food?
-Pardon? I packed medicinal herbs instead of food….
-I told you food was more important than medicinal herbs!
-I’ll bring it right away!
-Don’t forget to grind it fine so it’s easy to eat!
…Something had happened.
Seraphia rose from her seat and opened the study door.
She could see the maidservants hurrying urgently down the castle corridor.
“You there.”
“…Ah! My lord.”
The maidservants stopped running and hastily bowed their heads.
“What’s going on?”
“I… I don’t know…!”
The maidservant at the front hesitated, her face draining of color.
And then came her next words.
“Lord Adrian was just brought in… foaming at the mouth…!”
“My brother?!”
Seraphia’s face paled in an instant.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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